Comparative Analysis of the Nutritional Components and some Physical Parameters of Two Edible Mushrooms (Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus flabellatus) Grown in West Bengal

Mushrooms are large reproductive structures of edible fungi belonging to either Ascomycotina or Basidiomycotina. They are non-green fungi which occur seasonally all over the world in various habitats. The mushrooms comprise a large heterogeneous group having various shapes, sizes and colours, all quite different in character, appearance and edibility. Of these large groups with more than 2000 edible species, about 300 species belonging to 70 genera are reported from India. Mushrooms have been recognized as the alternate source of good quality protein. They are capable of producing the highest quality of protein per unit area and time from the worthless agro-wastes, which are available to the tune of more than 300 million tonnes per annum in our country. This study has been carried out to compare the ntritional value of two mushrooms Agaricus bisporus and Pleurotus flabellatus. The physical components like weight , volume, specific gravity were determined as well as the chemical components like moisture, protein, carbohydrate , and minerals were estimated for these two varieties of edible mushrooms and the values were compared. The carbohydrate concentration was measured by the anthrone method. The protein content of the tissue was measured by micro-Kjeldahl method. The minerals viz., potassium, sodium, calcium, magnesium, zinc, cobalt, nickel, chromium, copper, phosphorus and lead were analyzed in an Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer (Spectra AA 220 FS). © 2014 Universal Research Publications. All rights reserved